Breaking the silence

STOCKTON - By all appearances, Ana Flores-Pineda and her boyfriend, Javier Sandoval, were the perfect couple.

Jennie Rodriguez-Moore

STOCKTON - By all appearances, Ana Flores-Pineda and her boyfriend, Javier Sandoval, were the perfect couple.

Flores-Pineda often talked about how Sandoval doted on her. How he would make dinner for her. How much of a gentleman Sandoval was.

But looks can be deceiving.

Aside from praising Sandoval, Flores-Pineda didn't talk too much about her personal life, said her co-workers at Sahuayo Market, where the 25-year-old was last seen alive May 2.

Sandoval, 30, is charged with murder and domestic violence after authorities identified the remains of a woman found in a trash bin in Pleasanton as Flores-Pineda.

As horrifying and isolated as the crime may seem, victim advocates say the slaying is a reminder of how much more vulnerable immigrant women are to domestic violence and how less likely they are to speak out about the abuse.

"It breaks your heart, because you know you've lost one more individual who didn't know what her rights were, and it reminds me of how many more people are living in fear," said Joelle Gomez, executive director of Women's Center of San Joaquin County. "Domestic violence is hard enough to cope with if you're a citizen."

Domestic violence can involve emotional, psychological, physical or sexual attacks used by a partner to control or hurt the other.

Add to that fear language barriers, unfamiliarity in a foreign country and the possibility of deportation. "Their batterers use manipulation and control to say you'll be deported or you'll never see your children again," Gomez said.

No one is certain whether Sandoval abused Flores-Pineda prior to her slaying.

Flores-Pineda was very responsible, so it seemed odd to her co-workers at Sahuayo Market that one day she didn't show up to work and there was no call.

Market employees, who spoke on condition of anony-mity, said Sandoval told them she had suddenly left to Mexico because her parents were ill.

Weeks passed without a word from Flores-Pineda, and her co-workers became increasingly worried. They reported her missing in June.

While Stockton police had a missing-person case on its hands, Alameda County officials had been trying to identity a Jane Doe found in May decomposing in a garbage bin.

In October, authorities matched the remains to the DNA of the missing woman's relatives in Mexico.

One store clerk said she and other employees began noticing signs something was wrong with Flores-Pineda before she disappeared.

She had lost 40 pounds to please Sandoval, one employee said. And she seemed to become more reserved. "She never said anything about her life," another employee said.

Silence is a hurdle for authorities and advocates in getting justice for victims.

"We have run across cases like that where they're afraid to call the police, but the word we want to get out is it doesn't matter who you are. If you're a victim of a crime, we need to know that information," Stockton police spokesman Officer Joe Silva said.

A major misconception is that local law enforcement shares victim information with U.S. Homeland Security.

"They think they'll get deported, but in actuality, they won't," Silva said.

In some cases, victims of violence could be eligible for a visa that allows them to legally live and work in the U.S. when they cooperate with law enforcement, said Suzanne Schultz, supervising program coordinator of the San Joaquin County Family Crimes Unit.

Holding offenders responsible is the District Attorney's Office priority, and the visas are just one of the tools law enforcement authorities use to put offenders behind bars, Deputy District Attorney Mark Ott said.

Ott, who is prosecuting Sandoval, said he could not discuss the details of the case.

But in general, he said, it is more difficult to prosecute offenders in cases involving undocumented immigrant victims.

"It has been my experience in the past on robbery cases that the undocumented migrant farm worker-type victims don't want to report, and they don't want to cooperate," Ott said. "They consider it the cost of doing business. Trying to build rapport and trust with undocumented immigrants is never an easy process."

Gomez said the women's center offers emergency shelter, food, clothing, crisis-intervention counseling and help with planning for the future to victims of domestic violence regardless of residency status.

The center has bilingual counselors who answer hot line phones. Gomez encourages victims to contact the center or, at the very least, to break their silence with a friend. She said victims should formulate an exit plan and gather important documents they may need.